1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to an apparatus and a method for automatic cooking, and, more particularly, to an apparatus and a method for automatic cooking, which cooks food using an automatic cooking algorithm.
2. Description of the Related Art
Compote is a dish of fruit stewed or cooked in a syrup prepared by putting dried fruits into water and stewing them. A basic method of cooking compote is to put dried fruits and a proper amount of water and sugar in a vessel, and cook by heating the vessel. If water is stewed for a long time after the dried fruits and sugar are put in the water, a flesh of the dried fruits absorbs the water, and compote is therefore cooked to have a desirably edible condition, and taste becomes better by adding refined sugar and sugar extracted from the dried fruits. However, if the water is heated at an extremely high temperature for a long time when the compote is cooked, the optimal cooking quality of the compote may not be obtained. Accordingly, the cooking of the compote should be carried out while the heating power is reduced in stages to obtain the satisfactory cooking quality of the compote. Additionally, a cooking result depends on respective durations of the cooking stages.
When compote is cooked, a gas/electric equipment, such as a cooking top, is generally used to heat a vessel. Notwithstanding that the cooking quality of the compote depends on the precise control of applied heating power and a cooking time for which the compote is cooked, the cooking of the compote is carried out depending on the judgment of a cook, so it is difficult to obtain the optimal and uniform cooking quality of the compote. Additionally, a cook should control heating power and ascertain the cooking state of the compote while standing by beside the cooking equipment, so the cook may not do other things until cooking is terminated. That is, the cook may not effectively manage the cooking time of the compote.